1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera having a rotatable image display portion and a rotatable grip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although some digital cameras are provided with an optical viewfinder, it is often the case that the user takes pictures with a digital camera while seeing object images on an image display portion (e.g., LCD monitor), not through the optical viewfinder, unless the digital camera is an SLR type digital camera. Accordingly, many digital cameras are required to have an operability different from the operability of a typical conventional camera using sensitive film which is generally used with the user's face being brought close to an eyepiece window (viewfinder window) of the camera body.
A digital camera in which a grip including a photographing lens is pivoted on a camera body equipped with an LCD monitor is known in the art. This type of digital camera is disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,448. In this type of digital camera, there are many restrictions in shooting posture of the user when they take pictures while holding the grip because the direction of the photographing optical axis depends on the orientation of the grip. The operability of some manual operational buttons (manual operational members) may deteriorate depending on the angular position of the grip. Specifically in the digital camera capable of taking not only still images but also moving images, it is desirable that a manual operational member for taking still images and another manual operational member for taking moving images be placed at easy-to-operate positions.